Press Center

Wyoming Passes Positive Animal Cruelty Bill

Wyoming Passes Positive Animal Cruelty Bill

The Wyoming Legislature has passed Senate File 100, a bill that creates the crime of “household pet animal cruelty” and contains the amendments requested by the American Kennel Club and our local Wyoming kennel clubs.

As introduced, this bill sought to define “puppy mills” and “hoarding” by the number of animals someone owns and with other vague and arbitrary language. While the Senate made a number of changes to the bill, some concerns still remained.

As passed by the Legislature, Senate File 100 now deletes the previous problematic bill and defines “household pet animal cruelty” as anyone who:

Keeps household pets in “a manner that results in chronic or repeated serious physical harm to the household pet” or

Keeps the pets “confined in conditions which constitute a public health hazard”.

The AKC believes that this bill is fair and reasonable. It protects the health and well-being of dogs while ensuring the rights of responsible owners and breeders.

We thank Representative Sue Wallis for sponsoring the amendment, and congratulate our local Wyoming kennel clubs and Colorado Federation of Dog Clubs for their work with the Wyoming Legislature to create a fair and reasonable bill.